Problem
A. Hawthorne is often associated with allegory (a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one). That said, I don't think of this story or other Hawthorne stories as purely allegorical, despite some potentially allegorical elements. What allegorical elements do you see in "The Minister's Black Veil"? Do you agree with reading Hawthorne as primarily allegorical or do you also think he goes beyond that classification?
B. In "The Minister's Black Veil," do you think we are supposed to figure out, or really care, what happened in Hooper's past to have caused such a permanent transformation in character?
C. Assuming you would agree that "self-knowledge" is a theme of "The Minister's Black Veil," how does it come through in the presentation of character? Do you think a character comes to know something about human nature and more about themself in the process? Does a character end up supposing that they "know" more about life or the human condition than they really do?
D. To what extent might the narrator of "Bartleby..." be using the character of Bartleby as an evasion, a way of not looking squarely at the emptiness of the narrator's own life?
E. As a kind of prewriting exercise for a potential Essay # 2, write about some similarities and/or differences you noted between "The Minister's Black Veil" and "Bartleby, The Scrivener." You can focus on the content of the stories or the form that they take, perhaps through the style of the writing.